WHERE are all the cries of judicial activism from the right?

[cawacko]

You don't think information like that wouldn't be found out? If you own controllling interest in a major corporation it has to be disclosed and all investors are going to know who you are. Someone with that powerful of a position cannot hide anonomously (sp) behind some third party.

Certainly they can.

If I own a 20% interest in Coca Cola, and that allows me to control the company (as most of the shareholders don't vote)...

And Coca Cola buys a controlling interest in American Express...

Then I effectively run American Express.

No dude. First off Coke, which is not uncommon with other firms, has 15% of its stock controlled by 'insiders' (people who work or worked for the company etc.). Coke is so big its single largest individual investor is Warren Buffett with like 8%. And then there are numerous other funds and institutional investors that invest in Coke. So you are not going to have a case where only 20% of shareholders vote.

So you are not taking over American Express with your little minority share of Coke.

 

[Vast LWC]

Everyone has the right to fund any campaign they choose and yes this includes Coporations. The Unions will likely benefit from this ruling as well. Hey if a Moveon.org Candidate can go out there and demonize a particular Corporation,i see no reason why that Corporation shouldn't be allowed to fight back. Free Speech can be a very tricky thing. You may hate a particular group but that group still has a right to be heard. It's what America is all about.

But I don't want the "Unions to benefit as well".

I don't like ANY Special Interests dictating the Democratic process.

 

[Big Fitz]

What GE received,amounted to a Bailout. Go ahead and spin if it makes you happy though. I wont stand in your way. GE got the sweet deal and presto,NBC quickly becomes the biggest Hopey Changey Boot-Licker in the Media. Now that's something to get outraged about. No Corporation that owns Media Outlets should ever receive Government Bailouts. This stuff just doesn't seem to bother the Leftists though. I wonder why??

So, how much money did the government give GE?

Consider the billions of dollars invested in green energy initiative. GE is the largest producer of Windmills. Plus the mandates for energy production from green sources are bolstering GE and ADM and other megacorps producing ethanol, wind, solar or biodiesel.

Then include in the mess the fact you are subsidizing these technologies sometimes for nearly dollar for dollar because they are unviable without subsidization to make them competitive to much better traditional fossil fuel sources.

So, yes, GE recieved massive payouts for it's investment in dozens of politicians who supported "incidentally' Green energy based on their technology.

This is the type of collusion that needs to end somehow on capitol hill. It's too bad you can't do a type of "Conflict of Interest" to these punks.

 

[Vast LWC]

No dude. First off Coke, which is not uncommon with other firms, has 15% of its stock controlled by 'insiders' (people who work or worked for the company etc.). Coke is so big its single largest individual investor is Warren Buffett with like 8%. And then there are numerous other funds and institutional investors that invest in Coke. So you are not going to have a case where only 20% of shareholders vote.

So you are not taking over American Express with your little minority share of Coke.

Coke was obviously just a name of a major corporation I picked out of the air.

There are plenty of other corporations to choose from where the proposed scenario could occur.

 

[Big Fitz]

Everyone has the right to fund any campaign they choose and yes this includes Coporations. The Unions will likely benefit from this ruling as well. Hey if a Moveon.org Candidate can go out there and demonize a particular Corporation,i see no reason why that Corporation shouldn't be allowed to fight back. Free Speech can be a very tricky thing. You may hate a particular group but that group still has a right to be heard. It's what America is all about.

But I don't want the "Unions to benefit as well".

I don't like ANY Special Interests dictating the Democratic process.

The problem is, we have a constitutional right to redress our grievances with government. This means lobbyists. Unless you wish to trim a little fat off the bill of rights and say that those addressing grievances MUST be the agrieved party.

Unfortunately that begets another problem: Ability to do so. Lobbyists exist for the exclusive reason that most parties have neither the time, expertise or ability to lobby their cause effectively. It is a much more efficent and practical use of their time and money to hire someone better suited to entreat our government officials to the agrieved's way of thinking.

It still sucks, but right now, we have no better system, unless we start regulating what can be done in the course of redressing grievances.

 

[Vast LWC]

Consider the billions of dollars invested in green energy initiative. GE is the largest producer of Windmills. Plus the mandates for energy production from green sources are bolstering GE and ADM and other megacorps producing ethanol, wind, solar or biodiesel.

Then include in the mess the fact you are subsidizing these technologies sometimes for nearly dollar for dollar because they are unviable without subsidization to make them competitive to much better traditional fossil fuel sources.

So, yes, GE recieved massive payouts for it's investment in dozens of politicians who supported "incidentally' Green energy based on their technology.

This is the type of collusion that needs to end somehow on capitol hill. It's too bad you can't do a type of "Conflict of Interest" to these punks.

That may be true. There may be "Green" stimulus money going to GE, as well as other energy companies. You have a good point there.

And I agree that this type of collusion should end on capital hill.

The poster I was arguing with, however, was claiming that the government "bailed out" GE, as part of the bailouts.

 

[cawacko]

No dude. First off Coke, which is not uncommon with other firms, has 15% of its stock controlled by 'insiders' (people who work or worked for the company etc.). Coke is so big its single largest individual investor is Warren Buffett with like 8%. And then there are numerous other funds and institutional investors that invest in Coke. So you are not going to have a case where only 20% of shareholders vote.

So you are not taking over American Express with your little minority share of Coke.

Coke was obviously just a name of a major corporation I picked out of the air.

There are plenty of other corporations to choose from where the proposed scenario could occur.

If you are the largest shareholder of a company it is disclosed. Say your senario exists it's not like they can't find out or don't know who you are. There aren't stealth unknown investors of that size out there. So the senario of the bin Ladens taking over corporations without us knowing it doesn't exist.

 

[rdean]

They are cut into the stone of the Supreme Court, and the ACLU is still bitching about it.

If they were "absolute" then they wouldn't need a vote. Just curious, can you name a few "absolutes"?

Equality under the law and abashment of special rights.

It's nice to see that you support gay rights.

Push your twisted agenda on someone else. I'm not giving you the platform.

Couldn't name any "absolutes"? It's OK. It sounded good, but so does the wind.

 

[LibocalypseNow]

Yea John Stossel did a great show on Fox the other day showing how GE & NBC have become the biggest White House prostitutes in the Media. He went on to show how many sweet deals were done for GE by this White House and Congress. This stuff needs to be thoroughly investigated in my opinion. Probably wont happen though unless the Republicans get some power back and decide to look into this stuff.

He showed how cronyism is running rampant in this White House. He showed one example of a window manufacturing company that has received a ridiculous amount of "Stimulus" cash from this White House and how the White House is constantly promoting that company. He even showed a clip of MSNBC's Rachel Maddow shamelessly pimping this same window company on her show. It turns out that many in this administration and many other Democrats have very close ties with this Window company's Execs. Cronyism at its worst. The Left just doesn't seem to care about this awful stuff. I wonder why??

 

[rdean]

Everyone has the right to fund any campaign they choose and yes this includes Coporations. The Unions will likely benefit from this ruling as well. Hey if a Moveon.org Candidate can go out there and demonize a particular Corporation,i see no reason why that Corporation shouldn't be allowed to fight back. Free Speech can be a very tricky thing. You may hate a particular group but that group still has a right to be heard. It's what America is all about.

Wow, your insight is so deep, so keen. Perhaps you could clarify a few points. So, the unions would benefit because they could also put in unlimited money. Considering unions only cover like 12 or 13% of all workers in the US, how much do they have to put in?

Then of course, they would be competing with, oh, say, Exton Mobile, or Royal Dutch Shell, or Toyota. Companies that have the best interest of Americans in mind. In fact, they love us so much, they will move jobs overseas so we don't have to work as hard.

I just don't understand. Republicans hate foreigners so much, and then to open our political process to foreigners? Not getting a good feeling about this. What do Republicans know that the rest of us are missing? After all, they were right on Iraq, Bin Laden, Health Care, Katrina, Afghanistan. Are they right about this too?

 

[Vast LWC]

If you are the largest shareholder of a company it is disclosed. Say your senario exists it's not like they can't find out or don't know who you are. There aren't stealth unknown investors of that size out there. So the senario of the bin Ladens taking over corporations without us knowing it doesn't exist.

I didn't say they could take over corporations without anyone knowing.

Might point was is that now corporations like can make donations to political campaigns without a problem, and unless someone decides to dig deep into who's funding what, no-one will know where the money's coming from.

And even if they do find out, it's all legal anyway

 

[cawacko]

If you are the largest shareholder of a company it is disclosed. Say your senario exists it's not like they can't find out or don't know who you are. There aren't stealth unknown investors of that size out there. So the senario of the bin Ladens taking over corporations without us knowing it doesn't exist.

I didn't say they could take over corporations without anyone knowing.

Might point was is that now corporations like can make donations to political campaigns without a problem, and unless someone decides to dig deep into who's funding what, no-one will know where the money's coming from.

There are disclosure laws both for politicians and corporations. You cannot legally give millions to candidates without it being known.

 

[Big Fitz]

If they were "absolute" then they wouldn't need a vote. Just curious, can you name a few "absolutes"?

Equality under the law and abashment of special rights.

It's nice to see that you support gay rights.

Push your twisted agenda on someone else. I'm not giving you the platform.

Couldn't name any "absolutes"? It's OK. It sounded good, but so does the wind.

Not worth anything else.

 

[cawacko]

Everyone has the right to fund any campaign they choose and yes this includes Coporations. The Unions will likely benefit from this ruling as well. Hey if a Moveon.org Candidate can go out there and demonize a particular Corporation,i see no reason why that Corporation shouldn't be allowed to fight back. Free Speech can be a very tricky thing. You may hate a particular group but that group still has a right to be heard. It's what America is all about.

Wow, your insight is so deep, so keen. Perhaps you could clarify a few points. So, the unions would benefit because they could also put in unlimited money. Considering unions only cover like 12 or 13% of all workers in the US, how much do they have to put in?

Then of course, they would be competing with, oh, say, Exton Mobile, or Royal Dutch Shell, or Toyota. Companies that have the best interest of Americans in mind. In fact, they love us so much, they will move jobs overseas so we don't have to work as hard.

I just don't understand. Republicans hate foreigners so much, and then to open our political process to foreigners? Not getting a good feeling about this. What do Republicans know that the rest of us are missing? After all, they were right on Iraq, Bin Laden, Health Care, Katrina, Afghanistan. Are they right about this too?

Out of curiousity (sp) how was one 'right' or 'wrong' on bin Laden or Katrina or Afghanistan?

 

[Vast LWC]

There are disclosure laws both for politicians and corporations. You cannot legally give millions to candidates without it being known.

Unless it is done through intermediaries.

Members of the Bin Laden family aren't necessarily NAMED Bin Laden.

 

[LibocalypseNow]

Full disclosure is still in effect. So you have the right to not vote for any candidate that receives money from the "Evil Corporations." That right has not been taken away from you. As far as the Unions not having money,all i can do is laugh at that absurd notion. The Unions are loaded with cash and are already behind many political campaigns in this country. They have a very big influence on almost all legislation. It's all about Freedom in the end. If you truly believe in Freedom & Liberty then you have nothing to fear with this ruling. Your rights are still completely intact. You do not have to support any political candidate that takes cash from "Evil Corporations." It really is that simple in the end.

 

[cawacko]

There are disclosure laws both for politicians and corporations. You cannot legally give millions to candidates without it being known.

Unless it is done through intermediaries.

Members of the Bin Laden family aren't necessarily NAMED Bin Laden.

what before yesterday's ruling prevented them from doing this already?

 

[Intense]

I think my personal opinion of GE is a tiny bit lower than Conan O'Brian's. My curiosity is why the Left rarely see's the State's Role in the Scheming, Who both allows and benefits from these shenanigans?

 

[LibocalypseNow]

Yea GE has gotten away with murder in recent times. Can't even watch NBC anymore. The constant White House Boot-Licking just turns the stomach. There needs to be some real investigations into this farce. Don't hold your breath though.

 

[rdean]

Everyone has the right to fund any campaign they choose and yes this includes Coporations. The Unions will likely benefit from this ruling as well. Hey if a Moveon.org Candidate can go out there and demonize a particular Corporation,i see no reason why that Corporation shouldn't be allowed to fight back. Free Speech can be a very tricky thing. You may hate a particular group but that group still has a right to be heard. It's what America is all about.

Wow, your insight is so deep, so keen. Perhaps you could clarify a few points. So, the unions would benefit because they could also put in unlimited money. Considering unions only cover like 12 or 13% of all workers in the US, how much do they have to put in?

Then of course, they would be competing with, oh, say, Exton Mobile, or Royal Dutch Shell, or Toyota. Companies that have the best interest of Americans in mind. In fact, they love us so much, they will move jobs overseas so we don't have to work as hard.

I just don't understand. Republicans hate foreigners so much, and then to open our political process to foreigners? Not getting a good feeling about this. What do Republicans know that the rest of us are missing? After all, they were right on Iraq, Bin Laden, Health Care, Katrina, Afghanistan. Are they right about this too?

Out of curiousity (sp) how was one 'right' or 'wrong' on bin Laden or Katrina or Afghanistan?

Oh, that's an easy one. Letting Bin Laden go and then ignoring him was "right". Turning away from Afghanistan and putting our troops in Iraq was obviously the "right" thing to do. Ignoring Katrina victims, then putting survivors in toxic trailers, sitting on the complaints and then refusing to rebuild the city saved us lots of money, otherwise, what's the point. Whatever else you say about Republicans, they always have a "strategy".